Bit and pieces of MEL with the very limited time I had.

Fresh oysters for BREAKFAST! My crew Awangku just can't wait!

We took a pause while walking, these 3 handsome guys just can't be missed!

I wished I got this idea when I bought a Zippo as a gift!

My crew Icely getting her pic taken by Capt Foong. Heh..like father & daughter!

Melbourne Street Performers -had to stop and watch!

The sign says it all!

So when is your next flt out to MEL?
Book now on http://www.airasia.com/ ! With NO MORE ADMIN FEES, pay even lower fees!

Some things in life are free. As a dance music fanatic myself, it was always a dream to attend one of the many global dance festivals like Dance Valley, Ibiza, White Sensation, Coachella. And so when Global Sound Masters put on an online contest in on their website from April Fools day (1st April) to the 5th April, I didn’t hesitate to participate at all.

All it took was just to answer one questionnaire and the grand prize was a free ticket to one of the world’s biggest music festival Trance Energy Australia (Melbourne),one return flight courtesy of Air Asia & 2 nights accommodation at the Holiday Inn.

How big was this event?! Big would be an understatement. With a line-up of world renowned dance music acts like Judge Jules, BT, Sander van Doorn, Richard Durand, 5 stages, music from 12pm till 11pm,it was expected to be a HUGE event.

On the 5th of April, almost midnight, when I received a call from one of the organizers. He informed that I had won the grand prize and I was well on my way to party at Trance Energy at Melbourne in a week, I couldn’t believe my ears and it almost sounded surreal. So after a week's preparation, I finally met up with the organizers of Global Sound in LCCT.

Meeting The Organizers at LCCT

We were then on our way to Melbourne, Australia! We boarded the Airasia flight and from the experience I had I would give it a 5 star satisfaction. The stewardess were friendly and uber nice and the flight was comfortable (was also because we had our fair share of laughs with each other).

Had A Smooth Flight on AirAsia X !!

After 9 hours, we finally made it to Melbourne at 11pm local time. As it was already midnight when we checked out of the airport, we went to a mini mart nearby and indulged ourselves with toasty sandwiches, pies and chocolates. After having our late night dinner we then went over to our hotel, checked in, settled down and prepare our body & soul for the next day's event.

The next morning we were up by 9am, had ourselves some fueled-up buffet breakfast, put on our dancing shoes and were well ready to party for the next 11 hours. Weather was 13 degrees just superb for an outdoor festival. Imagine you jump jump hop hop sway sway, and you dont feel a drop of sweat.

A Quick Snapshot Infront Of Holiday Inn, Melbourne

The event was at Calder Park, about 30 minutes from the hotel. According to Wikipedia, Calder Park Raceway is a motor racing circuit in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, operated by Australian Motorsport Club Limited. The complex includes a drag strip, a road circuit with several possible configurations, and the "Thunderdome", a high-speed banked oval equipped to race either clockwise (for right-hand-drive cars) or anti-clockwise (for left-hand-drive cars such as NASCAR). Dozens of famous motor racing events held annually including Australian NASCAR Championship, Australian National Drag Championships & Australian Grand Prix!

Inside Calder Park at Trance Energy Australia

Upon arrival, we then proceed to check in at the media entrance and were greeted by two blonde-shells. After some introduction, photo taking and contact exchange we were given our premium tags, entry tags & VIP tags. YES, we were able to mingle with the Artist, take pictures like groupies, do interviews, etc. It was only 2pm and you could already see a huge crowd brewing and it will get bigger as the day falls.

One of The Biggest Moments in Life, A Photo with Sander Van Doorn, ranked #13 on DJ MAG Top 100 Chart

Everyone was dressed-up for the festival, literally. It was like some spansy-fancy dress party without getting stereotyped. That’s the difference between there and back home. The layout of the place was well-planned having housed about 18,000 heads that it didn’t even seem too crowded. With music thumping' non stop, people dancing or just having fun, it was indeed a blast.Each act was given an hour for their set so you could get a mix variety of different sounds at each hour.

Huge Festival Crowd Infront of Main Arena

Getting to rub shoulders & picture taking with the top international acts, meeting new faces from different races, all in all it was an awesome wonderful and memorable trip for me. All these wouldn’t have happened without the hard-working organizers’ and courtesy of AirAsia and I thank you from the bottom of my heart, now Everyone Can Fly!!

Dear AirAsia Guests,

I notice that lately we have received numerous complaints on our Call Centre response time. This is due to the huge success of AirAsia X, especially with the Perth and Melbourne route announcements. These new, exciting long-haul routes have resulted in longer talk-time between callers and our agents and subsequently caused our lines to be congested.

We did not anticipate this sudden surge in calls volume. However our Call Centre team headed by Sri Velayuthan has now identified and worked with our IT department to upgrade the Call Centre facility.

By Nov 6, our Call Centre will have enough agents and sufficient IT infrastructure to deal with the influx. By this, we aim to improve our Call Centre performance to 90% i.e. a drop call rate of 10% only. By January, we'll be moving to a high-tech Call Centre to cater to more calls.

We sincerely apologise for the frustrations caused by our Call Centre congestion but this is only due to our overwhelming business expansion. We have always been mindful in increasing cost as it will certainly lead to increasing fares. As the People's Airline, this is the last thing we want to happen.

We acknowledge that technology will cost us more but at the same time we are committed to giving you excellent service.

On another note, I have been working very hard with the team at AirAsia to look at reducing our fuel surcharge and you should look forward to the good news in the next couple of months.

In the meantime, if you have any problems or enquiries, do not hesitate to email
Sri Velayuthan at srivelayuthan@airasia.com or Hani Nurlena at haninurlena@airasia.com. Having a combined experience of 15 years in customer service between them, they will be happy to assist you.

Best regards,
Tony Fernandes

I just got back from our Gold Coast flight yesterday, after launching our Melbourne route. Had to handle a barrage of media queries/interviews and caught up on emails. Adrenaline from the last intense 48-hours is finally dissipating.

Launching a new route, especially a major destination such as Melbourne is a mammoth undertaking, and one that we tackle with bare minimum resources to make it happen. Its always a major drama. Final regulatory approvals need to be secured. The booking engine with promo fares must be loaded to face the onslaught on sales at midnight. Advertisements and press releases must be vetted. Logistics of the press conference must be scrutinised - especially when we were lucky to be graced by the presence of two senior Victorian Ministers at our event: Minister of Trade & Industry Theo Theophanus (whom I've come to regard as a personal friend after working with him for over a year to make Melbourne happen), and Minister of Tourism Tim Holding.

Wouldn't have been possible without a stellar team: Kat, Spencer, Senthil, Darren, Sherliza and many others who made this happen through sheer will spiced with madness.

The flight back yesterday was an 8+ hour day flight. I only managed to get 1-hour's work done on the laptop before my mind started zoning out. Couldn't focus and concentrate any more.

Thankfully, since July, AirAsia X has introduced portable media players that come with a selection of Hollywood blockbuster and regional movies, TV shows, music and games - to while a way the long flight hours - for a small fee ;-) (RM35)

We've realised that for long-haul flights, we must provide an entertainment option for our guests who cannot sleep on the flight. The new aircraft that will come into service this November, will be equipped with in-flight entertainment systems in all seats! Latest interactive, touch-screen system with a lot of entertainment content as well as cool applications, including a USB port to charge your iPod/Blackberry (two devices I always have with me when travelling).

I am excited about the Red Hot Deal I got in email, and will try real hard to book.
Have to wait until today to see what from really means, but if no games I will upgrade to XL, and the other Airlines are going to miss out.

The other good thing is that Thailand Tourist Authority is offering a deal with BA in Australia. I won't comment, other than say I spend my dollars at my first stop, so this promo will change where I was going to fly to - excellent timing, and good for the Malaysian Economy.

Note to AirAsia Management. I would have been happy to pay $50 more for the privilege of being able to peep/book earlier, or be locked into paying to baggage and seat choice - or book and pay for some other flight. This would avoid a server meltdown, and enhance yield as little, while discouraging scalpers.